GdS: 14 passes, 34 touches – Ramos isolated again as noise around Milan struggles grows

The hope for Ruben Amorim and AC Milan was that Goncalo Ramos would continue his red-hot form from international duty. It did not materialise.

La Gazzetta dello Sport report that there was a TV station from Lisbon that had gone to Reggio Emilia for a report on Ramos at the Mapei Stadium. There were journalists, camera operators and technicians. The problem? They only got a minute’s worth of footage.

It was a minute in which Gonçalo had two chances. One self-made: he overlapped Mario Gila on the right, cut back onto his left, and shot but Muric parried. The other was a cross from Samuel Chukwueze on the right, but Muric saved again. Aside from that? Very little of note.

Ramos vanishes again

Ramos came off a break with three goals in his three starts for Portugal, against Norway and Denmark. At Milan, things aren’t quite as smooth. He scored against Venezia on August 28th, but he has not scored in the over 40 days that have followed since.

During the international break, Ramos impressed with his goals, his passes, his collaboration with Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and others. With Milan, he seems much more isolated, less involved, with the ball often moving more slowly, allowing Sassuolo to close him down.

Gonçalo moved a lot, as he always does, but at times he didn’t seem to have a plan. The numbers are worrying: he made 14 passes in 90 minutes plus injury time and attempted four dribbles without completing any of them. The 34 touches he had aren’t enough: one every three minutes.

What can Ramos and Amorim do? Stay calm, for now. The club-record signing has started every game, and Francesco Camarda remained unused again last night. There’s complete faith in the former PSG player, and that will continue on Thursday against Salzburg in the Europa League.

Of course, sooner or later he’ll have to have a break, perhaps against Atalanta in a week, perhaps against Bournemouth in Europe. It will depend on the team’s form and current situation. More importantly: Milan are starting to feel the urgency of getting their striker in a position to score.

A striker worth over €70m risks being labelled a flop without goals. So on social media, some are starting to talk about ‘Ghostalo’, the phantom striker. In October, it happens and can be shrugged off. In a month or so, the ringing in his ears would become louder.